Known in the art are diagnostic tools, generally used for reading indicators as to the state of health for various electronic modules of a vehicle. Most of today's vehicles have on-board self-diagnostic and reporting capabilities to help maintain or repair various systems in these vehicles.
The mass production of fuel injected vehicles in the 1980's and the environmental regulations imposed have made on-board diagnostic (OBD) systems mandatory on most vehicles. Early systems were limited to illuminating a warning light for indicating the presence of an error, and external tools or devices were not necessary to obtain diagnostic information. Buttons or jump wires were used to put the system into diagnostic mode and the light would indicate the information or code by emitting a series of flashes. In more recent days, vehicles have more electronic modules and components and on-board diagnostic systems are therefore more complex. Modern OBD systems in vehicles include communication ports (or “OBD connector”) which are connected to the vehicles communication network (data bus, etc.) being in turn interconnected with the various electronic modules of the vehicles. Most vehicles today have connections made through the SAE standard J1962 which defines connecters and connections of the OBD-II type. The communication ports allow accessing real-time data relating to the electronic modules (status, diagnostic trouble codes, etc.). Thus, special tools are required to connect to the vehicle's communication ports for reading information and further presenting the information to a user. More particularly, such tools include devices adapted to retrieve data from the vehicle and to display information on a display screen of the device or of another device such as a computer.
Currently, a vast number of handheld and computer based scan tools are available on the market for the public, as well as for technicians and dealerships. Such devices range from relatively simple handheld devices available to consumers for a cost which is generally lower than more complex and expensive tools made especially for dealerships. The connections between the tool and the vehicle are usually made through a cable or a wireless device (using for example Bluetooth™ technology). The information is then retrieved from the different sources and is interpreted and presented by the handheld tool or by a computer. In some case, user commands or information may also be entered at the handheld device, using buttons or the like, or at the computer.
However, such tools are generally bulky and relatively expensive to manufacture, as well as to support and maintain, given that they have elaborate electronic components and circuitry, namely a display screen, buttons, or the like, as well as the related circuitry. Moreover, the user is required to enter commands and information as well as view and receive information through an external device, which is typically handheld, and which may be awkward to handle and manipulate, given the normal driver's position in a vehicle.
For example, known to the Applicant are U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,532,927; 7,069,125 B2; 7,350,159 B2; and 7,519,458 B2; as well as United States Patent Applications: No. 2005/0131595 A1; No. 2007/0100520 A1; No. 2008/0015748 A1; No. 2008/0195299 A1; No. 2008/0294303 A1; No. 2009/0240391 A1; No. 2009/0326757 A1; No. 2010/0017236 A1; No. 2010/0145571 A1; and No. 2010/0204878 A1.
Also known in the art are diagnostic and/or adjustment devices adapted for a unique functionality, such as for example erasing a fault code. However, by definition, such devices are generally limited in terms of use.
Hence, in light of the aforementioned, there is a need for an improved system which, by virtue of its design and components, would be able to overcome some of the above-discussed prior art concerns.